If you’ve been hitting the gym like a champ, there’s a chance you’ve been noticing more muscle definition, a pep in your step, and more dirty laundry than ever before. But what about the other more unexpected side effects of hitting the gym? Yep, we’re talking about your s*x drive.
Research from the University of Texas at Austin shows that exercise increases s*x drive in pre-menopausal women so much that it will even help women whose s*x drives have been lowered by antidepressants.
The short burst of high-intensity exercise testers endured resulted in an uptick in their sympathetic nervous system activity—your body’s initial fight-or-flight mode—getting the blood flowing to the private part region, and counteracting antidepressants’ libido-killing side effects.
The effects exercise can have on your weight, body composition, and sense of confidence might have a lot to do with it, too. Justin Lehmiller, Ph.D, cites one study out of Duke University linking obesity with s*xual difficulties and a lowered s*x drive.
And even if you don’t take antidepressants or struggle with your weight, exercise could still boost your s*x drive. A 2010 study out of the University of Texas measured women’s physical reactions to er*tic films following a run on a treadmill. Women who hit the treadmill showed a greater private part response than a control group that didn’t run. “Findings like this suggest that exercise has a direct impact on how aroused women become in response to s*xual stimuli,” adds Lemiller.
The effects of that “runner’s high” so many exercisers rave about might yield bedroom benefits, too, adds Jennifer R. Berman, M.D., a practicing urologist and women’s s*xual health expert.
So consider a sweat sesh your new favorite form of foreplay.
Source: Women’s Health